Suit-hanger adapter



March 10, 19.59 J, C, KENNEY SUITHANGER ADAPTER Filed bet. s. 1957icl-.4

3 INVENTOR. JAM C. KEN/Vey tarea l 2,876,939 SUIT-HANGER ADAPTER JamesC. Kenney, Highland Park, Ill. Application October 3, 1957, Serial No.687,965 3 Claims. (Cl. 223-88) 'Ihis invention relates to clotheshangers and more particularly to a clothes hanger for two piece suits.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a two piece hangerfor two piece suits that will permit either piece of the suit to be hungupon a separate part of the hanger independently of the other partthereof, so as to facilitate the placement and removal of garmentsthereon in a more logical order.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a two piece hanger-of the above type having cooperating latch elements for detaching andassembling the parts of the hanger as may be required during the normaland efcient use thereof so that either garment of a two piece suit maybe first hung upon the hanger without interfering with the hanging ofthe other piece thereof at a later time.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a two piece hanger for twopiece suits bearing the above objects in mind which is of simpleconstruction, has a minimum number of parts, is inexpensive tomanufacture and efcient in operation.

For other `objects and for a better understanding of the invention,reference may be had to the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary front elevational View of a hanger assemblymade in accordance with the present invention in operative use;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of one of the latch elementsforming a part of the present invention;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 ofFigure 2;

Figure 4 is a front elevational view of a blank used to form another oneof the latch elements forming a part of the present invention;

Figure 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the latch element shown inFigure 4 in a completely formed condition; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged front elevational view of a blank forminganother part of the present invention.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, a two piece hanger 10 madein accordance with the present invention is shown to include a mainhanger portion 12 having wings 13 for supporting the shoulder section ofa garment, such as a jacket or a coat. The mid section of the hanger 12is provided with an upwardly extending and downwardly opening hook 15,of conventional construction, which is adapted to support the unit upona stationary rod or pole.

A plate 17 having outwardly extending tabs 19 on three sides thereof issecured to the main hanger 12, such as by rivets 1S. An invertedU-shaped bail 20 is secured to the plate 17 by folding the tabs 19inwardly so as to encompass the base and adjacent legs 22 of this bailmember and thus secured in a downwardly extending position. The outerfree ends of the legs 21 are formed with lugs 22 that define upwardlyfacing horizontal shoulders 23 for purposes hereinafter described. Thisbail member is preferably constructed of a spring wire material so thatthe legs 21 are yieldable in both directions but returnable to anormally parallel relationship.

A female latch element 25 having a base plate 27 is secured to a centralportion of an auxiliary hanger 29, such as by rivets 28. The ends yofthe base plate 27 are provided with flanges 30 that may be folded aboutpredetermined crease lines to dene a sleeve for slidably re- S2,876,939Patented Mar. 10, 1959 ceiving the legs 21 of the inverted bail 20therein. The lower extremities of these flanges 30 are provided withupwardly facing inclinded surfaces 31 and downwardly facing lower edges32, for purposes hereinafter described.

In operation, the completely assembled unit 10 shown in Figure 1 may bereadily disassembled by urging the lug ends of the legs 21 of theinverted bail member toward each other so that the upwardly facingsurface 23 thereof will disengage the downwardly facing edge 32 of thesleeve flanges 30 so that the auxiliary hanger 29 may be released fromthe main hanger 12. A garment may then be placed upon the support rod 34of the auxiliary hanger 29 and the unit again assembled withoutdisturbing any garment that is supported upon the wings of a main hanger12. In assembling the hangers, it is only necessary to slide the lugends of the bail legs 21 between the inwardly facing edges of theflanges 30 of the female coupling member while the.

auxiliary hanger 29 is moved upwardly. Since the distance between theoutside faces of the lugs is slightly less than the distance between theinside edges of the llanges 30 of the female coupling member 27 theywill be readily received between the flanges 3d and will beautomatically squeezed together as the surfaces 23 of the lugs are movedinto contact with the inclined surfaces 31.

Upon reaching the lower end of the anges 30, the suf-v faces 23 of thelugs 22 will also clear the bottom edges 32 of the flanges 30 and thussnap into the operative position shown in Figure 1 where they underliethe flanges and thus vertically support the auxiliary hanger in place.Thus, either one of the hanger portions may be used substantiallyindependently of the other so that it makes no difference whether agarment is first placed upon the main hanger portion or the auxiliaryhanger portion, the one not interfering with the use of the other.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shallbe understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope ofthe present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

l. A two piece hanger for two piece suits comprising, in combination, amain hanger portion having side wings for supporting one garment and ahook for engaging a stationary support member, an auxiliary hangerhaving a cross bar for supporting another garment, releasable couplingmeans for securing said auxiliary hanger beneath said main hangerportion, said coupling means comprising a mail latch portion carried bysaid main hanger/portion, a female latch portion carried by saidauxiliary hanger for slidably receiving said male latch portion, andsaid male latch portion being provided with releasable abutment meansfor securing engagement with said female latch portion, said femalelatch portion comprising a sleeve defining a downwardly facing loweredge, and said male latch portion comprising an inverted U- shaped bailhaving outwardly biased legs for slidable engagement Within said sleeve.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein the free ends of saidlegs include abutments adapted to underlie said lower edge of saidsleeve when said latch portions are in assembled relationship.

3. The combination according to claim 2, wherein said abutments compriseformed horizontal shoulders.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,781,628 Boyle Nov. 11, 1930 1,830,979 Borges Nov. 10, 1931 2,113,394Biri et al. Apr. 5, 1938 2,137,268 Clairon Nov. 22, 1938

